1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery accommodating structure in a device or equipment having a battery chamber in which a battery is accommodated and a mobile terminal that performs communication with an external device or equipment by power supplied from a battery accommodated in a battery chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a mobile terminal such as, for example, a mobile phone, or each of devices used over various fields is constituted so as to operate due to power from a battery inserted in a battery chamber thereof.
In such a device, for holding a battery inserted in a battery chamber within a battery chamber stably, it has been known a battery accommodating structure in which a battery in a battery chamber is prevented from chattering by biasing the battery toward one side thereof by a resilient member or the like (for example, refer to Japanese Patent No. 08-33026A (JP)). As one example, a battery accommodating structure disclosed in JP08-33026A is a structure that accommodates a battery in a recessed battery chamber to cover the battery chamber with a battery lid, in which a resilient arm that presses the battery toward the battery lid is provided on a bottom portion of the recessed battery chamber, so that a battery disposed in the battery chamber is prevented from chattering in a direction connecting the battery chamber bottom portion and the battery lid.
Further, a battery accommodating structure that prevents a battery from chattering in a direction extending along a battery chamber bottom face has been considered.
FIG. 1 is a view showing one example of a battery accommodating structure in a mobile phone, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the battery accommodating chamber indicated with a circle R in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1, a sectional view of one portion of the mobile phone is shown, in which a mold product 10 constituting a portion of a casing of the mobile phone is attached with a circuit board 20 mounted with various circuit parts. The mold product 10 is provided with a battery chamber 11. The battery chamber 11 has an opening on the left side in FIG. 1, and it is defined by a bottom plate 111 and side walls 112 surrounding the bottom plate 111. A battery 30 is accommodated in the battery chamber 11. The bottom plate 111 and the side walls 112 are molded integrally as the mold product 10. The battery chamber 11 in which the battery 30 is accommodated is covered with a battery lid (not shown). A battery rubber 12 is fixed to a lower end side wall 112a of the side walls 112 defining the battery chamber 11 by an adhesive double coated tape (not shown), a lower end edge 31 of the battery 30 rides on the battery rubber 12 to be urged upwardly by an elastic force thereof, so that chattering is prevented from occurring in a direction along the bottom plate 111 of the battery chamber 11 and electrical connection between a battery and a mobile phone main body is ensured reliably.
In procedure of fitting the battery 30 into the battery chamber 11, only a lower portion of the battery 30 is first inserted into the battery chamber 11 and the lower end edge 31 of the battery 30 is pressed on to the battery rubber 12. In such a state, the battery 30 is next pivoted toward the bottom plate 111 of the battery chamber 11 about a lower end edge of the battery 30 pressed on the battery rubber 12. Thereby, the battery 30 is inserted into the battery chamber 11 with the battery rubber 12 compressed.
As shown in FIG. 2, an opening 111a is formed at a portion of the battery chamber bottom plate 111 opposed to the battery rubber 12, and a rib 112b covering a face 12a of the battery rubber 12 positioned on the side of the battery chamber opening is formed on the lower end side wall 112a of the battery chamber 11 on the side of a battery chamber inlet of the battery rubber 12 (a position where the battery rubber 12 is positioned between the opening 111a of the bottom plate 111 and the same).
In order to manufacture the mold product, a split mold which is split in left and right directions in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is used, and the opening 111a is necessarily formed in the bottom plate 112a because the rib 112b must be formed using the split mold which is split to the right side in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.
Now, when the battery 30 is taken out of the battery chamber 11 shown in FIG. 1, an operation reversed to the operation performed when the battery 30 is inserted into the battery chamber 11 is performed. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, an upper side of the battery 30 is pivoted in a direction of arrow X about the lower end edge 31 pressed on the battery rubber 12 in a state that the lower end edge 31 of the battery 30 pressed on the battery rubber 12 and the lower end edge of the battery 30 is taken out of the battery chamber.
When the battery 30 is pivoted in the direction of arrow X, the battery rubber 12 receives a force acting in a direction of arrow Y so that the battery rubber 12 may eventually be deviated in the direction of arrow Y. In such a state that the battery rubber 12 has been deviated from its regular position, when a battery 30 is next inserted in the battery chamber 11, a biasing force pushing up the battery 30 along the bottom plate 111 does not act on the battery 30, which may result in chattering of the battery within the battery chamber or electrical contact failure between the battery and the mobile phone.
In order to prevent such a drawback from occurring, it is considered to change a mold for manufacturing a mold product.
FIG. 3 is a view showing a portion corresponding to the inside of the circle R in FIG. 1, for showing one example of a method for solving the problem.
In FIG. 3, a structure is shown where the opening 111a of the bottom plate 111 shown in FIG. 2 has been closed.
In this case, even if the battery 30 is pivoted in the direction of arrow X in order to take the battery 30 from the battery chamber so that the battery rubber 12 receives a force acting in the direction of arrow Y, movement of the battery rubber 12 is blocked by the bottom plate 111 and the battery rubber 12 stays at its regular position so that such a problem can be prevented from occurring.
However, in order to mold a mold product having a structure shown in FIG. 3, it is necessary to produce a recess for accommodating the battery rubber 12 therein that is interposed between the bottom plate 111 and the rib 112b and such a mold structure requires that a portion of a mold for producing the recess should be slid upwardly in FIG. 3 before the mold is split, which results in increase in the number of manufacturing steps for manufacturing a mold. Further, when a mold product is manufactured using the mold, a step of sliding the portion of the mold is additionally required, which results in increase in the number of manufacturing steps. Furthermore, in design of a casing of the mobile phone, there occurs such a large constraint condition that an undercut 111b such as shown with a one-dotted chain line in FIG. 3 can not be provided at a portion corresponding to the sliding.
FIG. 4 is a view showing a portion corresponding to the interior of the circle R in FIG. 1 and showing another example for solving the problem.
In FIG. 4, a structure that the opening 111a of the bottom plate 111 shown in FIG. 2 has been closed is shown like the case shown in FIG. 3. Incidentally, in the case shown in FIG. 4, the rib 112b shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 is not formed so that a face 12a of the battery rubber 12 on the side of the battery chamber opening is put in a uncovered state.
In order to mold a mold product shown in FIG. 4, a face of a bottom plate 111 on the side of the battery chamber including a portion formed with an opening 111a shown in FIG. 2 is formed by a mold split leftward in FIG. 4. With such a constitution, a mold product having a shape where the opening 111a shown in FIG. 2 has been closed can be molded, where such a sliding structure as shown in FIG. 3 is made unnecessary.
In the case shown in FIG. 4, however, since the face 12a of the battery rubber 12 on the side of the battery chamber opening is uncovered, a lower end edge 31 of a battery 30 collides against the face 12a, when a battery 30 is attached to/detached from the battery chamber. When the lower end edge 31 of the battery collides against the face 12a, a strong force acts on the battery rubber 12 in a lateral direction (in the direction of arrow Y), so that the battery rubber 12 may be peeled off even if the bottom plate 111 side has been closed.
In view of these circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a battery accommodating structure with a high reliability where a battery accommodated in a battery chamber is prevented from chattering and a mobile terminal provided with such a battery accommodating structure.